Sitting at work and as usual getting bored, I was browsing through web pages. A Friday afternoon at work means looking at time till it shows 5 or finding something else better to do. I chose the latter. It started with finding movies to watch over the weekend and somehow I ended up reading My Name is Khan reviews. I had seen the movie before and wanted to see what people in US think of all the hype that this movie has. Much has been said about this movie and I don’t intend to add to it. Although I came across a review in New York Times and my day unexpectedly got interesting. Not because of the review but the comments below. Here is the link to it.
http://movies.nytimes.com/2010/02/13/movies/13name.html?partner=Rotten%20Tomatoes&ei=5083
The comments were a really interesting read and indicative of the fact that different people can have dangerously conflicting opinion on a particular issue.
There were lot of comments which can be seen in this form or the other popping up in many sources of media. They are thus categorized.
Bollywood and Hollywood Comparison:
Bollywood always makes flamboyantly colorful movies, different from mainstream Hollywood movies.
-comments generally from people not from India
Bollywood movies are for no brainers unlike Hollywood movies. - From Indians generally
(Although I feel a lot of Hollywood movies are no brainers too.)
One notable comment in this regard goes;
In so many Hollywood movies, including casts like Dicaprio, Brad Pitt or Matt Damon, the east, the africa and so many 'foreign' places are portrayed to adjust the taste of American audiance, which in many cases are hilarious and often derogatory
dgsubhajit , Austin, TX
Every time there is a Hindi movie released when people say it’s an intelligent or not a no brainer movie, there will be others who will all of a sudden become scientists and engineers to find technical faults in the movie. (Like in this one; all roads seem to lead through the Joshua Tree National Park or how did he reach Wilhelmina walking through floods or; from San Francisco to DC, why was he in Georgia? etc)
The Religious Debate:
Between people there will always be two opinions (both conflicting each other in a way) when there is a movie (or anything) talking solely about Islam. One set of people supporting the movie saying that it was a good reflection of Islam, which is seldom seen in media these days. Then there is another set of people who say: we live in a muslin appeasing world. Why try to build ‘Muslims victimized’ image? Why concentrate on woes of Muslims in minority and not those of other religions in Muslim majority etc. This is true the other way too. Misguided hatred or anguish always sparks fights. A lot of fights, rude conversations, rant and should I say “gaali-galoch” happens when a sensitive issue is posted as a video or news item or blog on the internet. If you check YouTube, even non-related videos get comments which spark of these worthless fights. In the comment lines all you see is people swearing at each other!
Do we really need all this?
Islam and Terrorism correlation:
Again a sensitive issue, this one debated worldwide. One group against the branding of all Muslims as terrorists saying terrorism has no religion. The other set of people arguing that Muslims are not terrorists but vast majority of terrorists are Muslims and so on and on and on….
Love:
When people have conflicting opinion it can prove to be very dangerous to them and others. All diatribe will cause is hatred and pain. I guess that is why the comment that really made my day was the one below
“My Name is Khan” is a hero fantasy. The hero takes the biggest risk that any human being can take: he risks love. As a true hero, he pays the price for love, and he loves anyway. Finally, I was forced to ask myself, what is so fantastic about love?
My wife told me that taking her to this movie on Valentine's day was the most romantic Valentine of her life. And my wife does not lie to me.
– JimB from NC , charlotte, NC
And by the way, I liked the movie. :)
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Monday, January 04, 2010
Of prejudice, perceived truth and truth
Once there was an old man walking down the sidewalk of his neighborhood. The old man loved the walk on that part of his usually calm and quiet neighborhood. The road beside the sidewalk saw virtually no traffic, and very little vehicular noise if at all a vehicle did visit the road. There were tall buildings on one side and trees along the sidewalk on the other side of the road. The fresh air and the calm and quiet comforted the old man. It was early evening and the sun had just set. The old man came across an intersection and he said to himself in another five minutes I will be home.
Right then he saw a young boy on a scooter coming from the other side of the road. Behind the young boy there was a relatively obese man racing towards him on a motorcycle. Very soon the obese man reached up to the young boy. The old man felt that the obese man’s face looked like a goon’s and he started walking cautiously. The obese man raced in front of the young boy and stopped his motorcycle. Standing in the middle of the road he signaled the young boy to stop his scooter too.
The young boy looked as if he knew something was going to happen, and with a gulp down his throat he yielded to the obese man’s request. As soon as the boy stopped his vehicle, the obese man came up to him and slapped him on his face. He slapped the boy so hard that his eyes started watering. Looking at this the old man was startled and then scared. He did not want to know why this man slapped the boy, he just wanted to go pass them and reach home. However he could not stop staring at them either as he walked passed them. As the boy recovered from the momentary shock, he looked around to see any passersby who saw that incident but all his eyes saw were, an old man trying to whisk away along the sidewalk. His paining cheek made his right hand cover his cheek and he glanced in anguish towards the obese man his eyes completely wet by now. But before the boy could say anything, the obese man started yelling at the top of his voice.
“You idiot! I was at some speed when you turned left back there. Couldn’t you give an indicator light before turning? My motorcycle just kissed your scooter. Good that I controlled my motorcycle, otherwise… There was a speeding car behind me you know that! ” As the old man heard that, he felt a little at ease. His pace of walking slowed down, eyes till glued to both of them. The obese man, furious now at the remembrance of the previous incidence, had raised his hand again. His face this time more stern than before. The boy still sitting on his scooter ducked back with his left hand in the air to obstruct his offender and his right hand still on his cheek. The boy even more scared now slowly murmured, “I did give a signal by hand”. The old man stopped and stood still watching what was going on.
The obese man felt a shadow watching him to his left. He turned a little to see the old man and he lowered his raised hand but still yelling at the boy said, “The street lights were out. You think that I could see your flimsy little hand in the dark” He backed out a little while saying so and continued, “When I noticed you had slowed down it was too late I was right behind you” By this time he was walking towards his motorcycle. “Good that I maneuvered my motorcycle to the left immediately or else…. ”. The boy mustered some courage to speak louder judging the toned down aggression of the obese man. He said, “I am so sorry sir. My indicator lights are not working. I felt the two vehicles brisk each other but as I completed the turn I saw everything was alright in my rear view mirror so I continued. I am very sorry.”
“Sorry! What sorry!”, the man continuing his yelling, “Boy, your sorry wouldn’t matter if anything had happened… Driving without indicator lights is not my problem”. Saying this he hopped on his motorcycle. His anger had receded a little by now. He started his motorcycle and said “What do you think I have extraordinary eyes to see your flimsy little hand in the dark!” The boy judged that the man was about to go away; he stretched out his left hand and said “I am very sorry. Extremely sorry.” The man turned his motorcycle and went away saying “I came two blocks out of my way behind you. You are lucky there was no damage done to my motorcycle….” The young boy glanced at the old man, tears rolling down his eyes now. He started his scooter with Self pity, and drove away with shame and anger in his eyes.
The old man started walking back home thinking what had just happened. “Even if the boy was at fault hitting him so hard was not good. The man looked a dangerous man. A sane man would not hit a boy so hard! He does not look from around this neighborhood, but I think I recognize the boy. May be I have seen him here before. Poor boy had tears in his eyes, his cheek had turned red. Such a hefty man hitting such a young boy isn’t correct…. But nowadays these young boys also drive so rash someone needs to check them……Oh! I better get going….”
The young boy driving back home was trying to hide the humiliation in his face, the tears in his eyes. He said to himself, “Aaaargh! How could, that big fat man hit me! In the middle of the street! And I couldn’t do anything just because my indicator lights were not working…. Dad had warned me not to take the scooter out .Is this God’s way of punishing me because I took the scooter without asking dad? Stop crying now. Make sure you get home before dad reaches home. It feels like someone just stripped me of my dignity. Just get home before dad starts round two. How could he do that!!! ……….. ”
The obese man as he drove farther from the intersection regained his rationale. He said to himself “What had happened to me! I followed the boy two blocks out of my way like I was hunting him down or something. The boy did indicate by hand but it wasn’t visible in the dark until I was too close to him. The poor boy got afraid and continued. But I went all the way behind him and slapped him! Just because I was laid off from my company! Life isn’t fair. Ten years of faithful service and they fire me because of bad economy! What will I do now? I have a family to feed. How will I face my son? Would I hit my son like this too as I hit that boy? Life is harsh. If you don’t take care of your indicator lights you can die. The boy should learn this. The boy was terrified back there. He was almost the age of my son. He really didn’t do anything wrong. After all I was the one speeding at the intersection too. I could have checked my speed way before too. It was an intersection after all. Shouldn’t you be careful especially if the traffic signal at the intersection isn’t working and it’s dark? ” He sighed and said, “I shouldn’t have done that.”
Happy New Year 2010. :)
Right then he saw a young boy on a scooter coming from the other side of the road. Behind the young boy there was a relatively obese man racing towards him on a motorcycle. Very soon the obese man reached up to the young boy. The old man felt that the obese man’s face looked like a goon’s and he started walking cautiously. The obese man raced in front of the young boy and stopped his motorcycle. Standing in the middle of the road he signaled the young boy to stop his scooter too.
The young boy looked as if he knew something was going to happen, and with a gulp down his throat he yielded to the obese man’s request. As soon as the boy stopped his vehicle, the obese man came up to him and slapped him on his face. He slapped the boy so hard that his eyes started watering. Looking at this the old man was startled and then scared. He did not want to know why this man slapped the boy, he just wanted to go pass them and reach home. However he could not stop staring at them either as he walked passed them. As the boy recovered from the momentary shock, he looked around to see any passersby who saw that incident but all his eyes saw were, an old man trying to whisk away along the sidewalk. His paining cheek made his right hand cover his cheek and he glanced in anguish towards the obese man his eyes completely wet by now. But before the boy could say anything, the obese man started yelling at the top of his voice.
“You idiot! I was at some speed when you turned left back there. Couldn’t you give an indicator light before turning? My motorcycle just kissed your scooter. Good that I controlled my motorcycle, otherwise… There was a speeding car behind me you know that! ” As the old man heard that, he felt a little at ease. His pace of walking slowed down, eyes till glued to both of them. The obese man, furious now at the remembrance of the previous incidence, had raised his hand again. His face this time more stern than before. The boy still sitting on his scooter ducked back with his left hand in the air to obstruct his offender and his right hand still on his cheek. The boy even more scared now slowly murmured, “I did give a signal by hand”. The old man stopped and stood still watching what was going on.
The obese man felt a shadow watching him to his left. He turned a little to see the old man and he lowered his raised hand but still yelling at the boy said, “The street lights were out. You think that I could see your flimsy little hand in the dark” He backed out a little while saying so and continued, “When I noticed you had slowed down it was too late I was right behind you” By this time he was walking towards his motorcycle. “Good that I maneuvered my motorcycle to the left immediately or else…. ”. The boy mustered some courage to speak louder judging the toned down aggression of the obese man. He said, “I am so sorry sir. My indicator lights are not working. I felt the two vehicles brisk each other but as I completed the turn I saw everything was alright in my rear view mirror so I continued. I am very sorry.”
“Sorry! What sorry!”, the man continuing his yelling, “Boy, your sorry wouldn’t matter if anything had happened… Driving without indicator lights is not my problem”. Saying this he hopped on his motorcycle. His anger had receded a little by now. He started his motorcycle and said “What do you think I have extraordinary eyes to see your flimsy little hand in the dark!” The boy judged that the man was about to go away; he stretched out his left hand and said “I am very sorry. Extremely sorry.” The man turned his motorcycle and went away saying “I came two blocks out of my way behind you. You are lucky there was no damage done to my motorcycle….” The young boy glanced at the old man, tears rolling down his eyes now. He started his scooter with Self pity, and drove away with shame and anger in his eyes.
The old man started walking back home thinking what had just happened. “Even if the boy was at fault hitting him so hard was not good. The man looked a dangerous man. A sane man would not hit a boy so hard! He does not look from around this neighborhood, but I think I recognize the boy. May be I have seen him here before. Poor boy had tears in his eyes, his cheek had turned red. Such a hefty man hitting such a young boy isn’t correct…. But nowadays these young boys also drive so rash someone needs to check them……Oh! I better get going….”
The young boy driving back home was trying to hide the humiliation in his face, the tears in his eyes. He said to himself, “Aaaargh! How could, that big fat man hit me! In the middle of the street! And I couldn’t do anything just because my indicator lights were not working…. Dad had warned me not to take the scooter out .Is this God’s way of punishing me because I took the scooter without asking dad? Stop crying now. Make sure you get home before dad reaches home. It feels like someone just stripped me of my dignity. Just get home before dad starts round two. How could he do that!!! ……….. ”
The obese man as he drove farther from the intersection regained his rationale. He said to himself “What had happened to me! I followed the boy two blocks out of my way like I was hunting him down or something. The boy did indicate by hand but it wasn’t visible in the dark until I was too close to him. The poor boy got afraid and continued. But I went all the way behind him and slapped him! Just because I was laid off from my company! Life isn’t fair. Ten years of faithful service and they fire me because of bad economy! What will I do now? I have a family to feed. How will I face my son? Would I hit my son like this too as I hit that boy? Life is harsh. If you don’t take care of your indicator lights you can die. The boy should learn this. The boy was terrified back there. He was almost the age of my son. He really didn’t do anything wrong. After all I was the one speeding at the intersection too. I could have checked my speed way before too. It was an intersection after all. Shouldn’t you be careful especially if the traffic signal at the intersection isn’t working and it’s dark? ” He sighed and said, “I shouldn’t have done that.”
Happy New Year 2010. :)
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